Alt Tour

As the Tour de France enters its final act after the second rest day, one EF Education-Nippo rider can put his feet up, content with a job well done.  That rider -- Lachlan Morton -- has just completed his Alt Tour, riding the entire Tour de France route, including all transfers, unsupported. 

That meant 5,510 km, instead of the Tour route's 3,383 km.  65,500 metres of vertical gain rather than the Tour's 42,200 m.  18 days of riding without a day's rest, versus the peloton's 21 and two rest days.  And all while sleeping under the stars, fixing his own punctures, taking care of his own mechanicals, and keeping himself fed and watered. 

The Australian rider, who has approached the sport from his own unique perspective throughout his career, set off from Brittany just after the Tour began and quickly built a lead over the race, cycling longer days and banking distance to give him enough of a buffer over the peloton for the final 700 km+ transfer north to Paris. 

-- Iain Treloar, "Lachlan Morton Has Beaten The Tour De France to Paris By Five Days", cyclingtips.com, 13 July 2021